DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendment filed on 06/02/2026 has been entered and made of record. Claims 1-7, 9-10 and 19-20 are amended. No New Claim was added. No Claims were cancelled. Claims 1-20 are pending.
In view of the claim amendments to claims 4-7 for minor informalities in the previous office action, the claim objections are now withdrawn.
Applicant’s remarks in view of the newly presented amendments have been considered but are not found to be persuasive for at least the following reasons:
The Applicant argues on page 9-10 of the remarks filed the previous cited prior art of Bendikian et al. US Patent(US 10600189 B1) in view of Liu et al. (CN 109922372A) would not disclose the newly amended limitation of “the first image frame, the second image frame, and the first event frame have a same resolution.”. The Examiner agrees as the cited prior art fails to disclose the first image frame, the second image frame, and the first event frame have a same resolution. However, after further search and consideration the newly discovered art of Daniilidis et al. US PG-Pub(US 20200265590 A1) would disclose this limitation. Please see updated the claim rejections under 35 USC § 103 below.
The Applicant further argues Bendikian does not explicitly teach obtaining a first event framewherein the first event frame is used to describe a luminance change of the target scene within a time period from the first image frame to the second image frame. The Examiner respectfully disagrees as Bendikian does disclose obtaining a first event frame as seen in Figure 4, elements 405, 410, 415 are event frames over time and Col 4, Lines 10-19 discloses wherein the first event frame is used to describe a luminance change of the target scene within a time period from the first image frame to the second image frame as the event stream is received and brightness changes are calculated and a timestamp of the change is recorded. So, under the Broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim language the teachings of Bendikian would read on the cited claim language. Thus, the applicant’s arguments are not persuasive.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-2, 9-11 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bendikian et al. US Patent(US 10600189 B1) in view of Liu et al. (CN 109922372A, as cited by applicant in IDS filed 01/06/2025) in view of Daniilidis et al. US PG-Pub(US 20200265590 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Bendikian teaches an optical flow estimation method(Col 1, Lines 65-67, This disclosure is directed to systems, methods, and computer readable media for utilizing optical flow from an event camera), comprising: obtaining a first image frame and a second image frame and the image sequence is obtained by photographing a target scene (See Col. 4, lines 32-37 and col. 5, lines 46-53 where a regular camera captures image frames at a frame rate.), obtaining a first event frame(FIG. 4 shows a depiction of event frames 405, 410, and 415 over time), wherein the first event frame is used to describe a luminance change of the target scene within a time period from the first image frame to the second image frame(Col 4, Lines 10-19, “the motion detection module 160 may receive an event stream from an event camera 110, and analyze a pattern of changes in brightness over time to determine motion of an object. The motion detection module 160 may analyze the changes in brightness over a subset of pixels, such as pixels associate with a particular object or feature of an object, to determine a velocity of the object. That is, the event flow may provide indications of a change in brightness at a particular pixel along with a timestamp identifying when the event (i.e., change in brightness) occurred. By analyzing a subset of pixels in an image, the motion of a particular feature may be calculated.”, as disclosed in this section, an event stream is received and brightness changes are calculated and a timestamp of the change is recorded.); and determining a target optical flow based on the first image frame, the second image frame, and the first event frame(Col 4, Lines 55-58,” subset of pixels may correspond to pixels in the image within which the object or feature of the object was detected in 210. According to one or more embodiments, tracking movement within a small number of pixels of an image may provide preferable results if there are multiple objects moving in a scene. That is, a smaller subset of pixels will likely result in less false matches in an event flow.”, as disclosed in this section of the prior art, the optical flow is calculated using multiple frames ), wherein the target optical flow is an optical flow from the first image frame to a target moment, and the target moment is any moment between the first image frame and the second image frame (Col. 5, Lines 44-58 disclose the system can use the optical flow to place the ball at any location in the 60 frames/sec video data based on the determined optical flow.).
Bendikian does not explicitly teach wherein the first image frame and the second image frame are any two adjacent image frames in an image sequence
Liu teaches wherein the first image frame and the second image frame are any two adjacent image frames in an image sequence (Abstract, “obtaining the first frame rate of the first video data stream; motion data obtaining time of continuous two frame intermediate time the video data in the first video data stream according to the time to obtain all events between the continuous two frames of video data, a second video data stream according to the first video data stream and said motion data”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the claimed invention as taught by Bendikian with Lin in order to use adjacent image frames in the image sequence. One skilled in the art would have been motivated to modify Bendikian in this manner in order to acquire all motion data between two frames of a low-frame-rate common camera in a fast motion scene. (Liu, Page 9, Second to Last Paragraph)
However, Bendikian and Liu do not explicitly teach the first image frame, the second image frame, and the first event frame have a same resolution.
Daniilidis teaches the first image frame, the second image frame, and the first event frame have a same resolution. (¶[0125], “we chose to instead use a representation of the events in image form. The input to the network is a 4 channel image with the same resolution as the camera”, discloses event frame has the same resolution as the images captured from the camera)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the claimed invention as taught by Bendikian and Liu with Daniilidis in order to have the event frame and the image frames captured to be the same resolution. One skilled in the art would have been motivated to modify Bendikian and Liu in this manner in order to estimation of optical flow, depth, and egomotion from event-based camera images. (Daniilidis, ¶[0003])
Regarding Claim 2, the combination of Bendikian, Liu and Daniilidis teach the method according to claim 1, where Bendikian further teaches wherein before the determining the target optical flow based on the first image frame, the second image frame, and the first event frame, (Col 4, Lines 1-6, “feature detection module is configured to identify a feature in an image. In one or more embodiments, feature detection module 155 may detect a feature of an object in an image captured by a traditional camera, or based on an event stream, or both. The feature detection module 155 may, for example, detect a feature, identify feature descriptors for the feature, and identify the feature based on the descriptors.”, this section of the prior art discloses determining an object in the event stream before calculating optical flow.) the method further comprises: obtaining a second event frame, wherein the second event frame is used to describe a luminance change of the target scene within a time period from the first image frame to the target moment(Col 6, Lines 50-61, “FIG. 4 shows a depiction of event frames 405, 410, and 415 over time. It should be understood that the various event frames are not actual frames captured by a camera. Rather, the depicted event frames 405, 410, and 415 depict, for each of a subset of pixels of an image, whether a brightness has changed at a particular time. According to one or more embodiments, the various subset of pixels may be expressed as a collection of data sets indicating a timestamp corresponding to a change in brightness of a particular pixel at a particular location. In one or more embodiments, pixel locations may be defined by pixel coordinates within an image or on a sensor.”, in this section of the prior art multiple event frames are acquired and processed to determine a change in brightness); and wherein the determining the target optical flow based on the first image frame, the second image frame, and the first event frame comprises: determining the target optical flow based on the first image frame, the second image frame, the first event frame, and the second event frame. (Col 7, Lines 33-48, “FIG. 5 shows, in chart form, an example dynamic event flow used to determine a velocity of an object, according to one or more embodiments. More specifically, FIG. 5 depicts an example of an event flow over a period of time T0-T3 during which the subset of pixels is dynamically modified. As shown, event frame 505 includes nine pixels, with a change in brightness detected at three pixels. For purposes of this example, it could be determined that the initial set of pixels is insufficient. Thus, at 510, a set of 16 pixels is considered at T2. The same subset of pixels is also considered at 515, where there is an apparent movement of the indication of a change in brightness. Then, at 520, a different subset of pixels is considered. According to one or more embodiments, the apparent direction of the change in brightness may indicate that the nine pixels at the left edge and bottom edge are no longer needed.”, as shown in figure 5, multiple event frames are used from a time period of t0-t3 to calculate the velocity of an object)
Regarding Claim 9, the combination of Bendikian, Liu and Daniilidis teach the method according to claim 1, where Bendikian further teaches wherein obtaining the first event frame comprises: obtaining event flow data(Col 4, Lines 10-13, “the motion detection module 160 may receive an event stream from an event camera 110, and analyze a pattern of changes in brightness over time to determine motion of an object”, Col 4, Lines 10-13 disclose receiving and event stream to determine motion in the stream.),
wherein the event flow data comprises event data of each event in at least one event, the at least one event one-to-one corresponds to at least one luminance change that occurs in the target scene between the first image frame and the second image frame(Col 4, Lines 10-19, “the motion detection module 160 may receive an event stream from an event camera 110, and analyze a pattern of changes in brightness over time to determine motion of an object. The motion detection module 160 may analyze the changes in brightness over a subset of pixels, such as pixels associate with a particular object or feature of an object, to determine a velocity of the object. That is, the event flow may provide indications of a change in brightness at a particular pixel along with a timestamp identifying when the event (i.e., change in brightness) occurred. By analyzing a subset of pixels in an image, the motion of a particular feature may be calculated.”, Col 4, Lines 10-19 disclose determining motion from the event stream by detecting brightness changes from one time period to another and marking the time stamp of when the event occurred.);, and the event data of each event comprises a timestamp, pixel coordinates, and a polarity(Col 3, Lines 15-19, “Each event may include pixel coordinates for a pixel at which the event is detected, a timestamp at which the event is detected, and a polarity which indicates a direction in change of brightness.”, Col 3, Lines 15-19 disclose the event data comprises, pixel coordinates, timestamp and a polarity.); and obtaining the first event frame based on the event flow data (Col 6, Lines 53-55, “the depicted event frames 405, 410, and 415 depict, for each of a subset of pixels of an image, whether a brightness has changed at a particular time”, Col 6, Lines 53-55 disclose obtaining multiple event frames to determine brightness change from the event stream data.)
Regarding Claim 10, Bendikian teaches an optical flow estimation apparatus(Fig. 1), comprising: at least one processor(Fig. 1, Element CPU 130); and one or more memories coupled to the at least one processor and storing programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor to cause the optical flow estimation apparatus(Col 3, Lines 37-45, Electronic Device 100 may include a central processing unit (CPU) 130. Processor 130 may be a system-on-chip such as those found in mobile devices and include one or more dedicated graphics processing units (GPUs). Further processor 130 may include multiple processors of the same or different type. Electronic Device 100 may also include a memory 140. Memory 140 may each include one or more different types of memory, which may be used for performing device functions in conjunction with CPU 130.) to:
obtain a first image frame and a second image frame and the image sequence is obtained by photographing a target scene (See Col. 4, lines 32-37 and col. 5, lines 46-53 where a regular camera captures image frames at a frame rate.), obtain a first event frame(FIG. 4 shows a depiction of event frames 405, 410, and 415 over time), wherein the first event frame is used to describe a luminance change of the target scene within a time period from the first image frame to the second image frame(Col 4, Lines 10-19, “the motion detection module 160 may receive an event stream from an event camera 110, and analyze a pattern of changes in brightness over time to determine motion of an object. The motion detection module 160 may analyze the changes in brightness over a subset of pixels, such as pixels associate with a particular object or feature of an object, to determine a velocity of the object. That is, the event flow may provide indications of a change in brightness at a particular pixel along with a timestamp identifying when the event (i.e., change in brightness) occurred. By analyzing a subset of pixels in an image, the motion of a particular feature may be calculated.”, as disclosed in this section, an event stream is received and brightness changes are calculated and a timestamp of the change is recorded.); and determine a target optical flow based on the first image frame, the second image frame, and the first event frame(Col 4, Lines 55-58,” subset of pixels may correspond to pixels in the image within which the object or feature of the object was detected in 210. According to one or more embodiments, tracking movement within a small number of pixels of an image may provide preferable results if there are multiple objects moving in a scene. That is, a smaller subset of pixels will likely result in less false matches in an event flow.”, as disclosed in this section of the prior art, the optical flow is calculated using multiple frames ), wherein the target optical flow is an optical flow from the first image frame to a target moment, and the target moment is any moment between the first image frame and the second image frame (Col. 5, Lines 44-58 disclose the system can use the optical flow to place the ball at any location in the 60 frames/sec video data based on the determined optical flow.).
Bendikian does not explicitly teach wherein the first image frame and the second image frame are any two adjacent image frames in an image sequence
Liu teaches wherein the first image frame and the second image frame are any two adjacent image frames in an image sequence (Abstract, “obtaining the first frame rate of the first video data stream; motion data obtaining time of continuous two frame intermediate time the video data in the first video data stream according to the time to obtain all events between the continuous two frames of video data, a second video data stream according to the first video data stream and said motion data”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the claimed invention as taught by Bendikian with Lin in order to use adjacent image frames in the image sequence. One skilled in the art would have been motivated to modify Bendikian in this manner in order to acquire all motion data between two frames of a low-frame-rate common camera in a fast motion scene. (Liu, Page 9, Second to Last Paragraph)
However, Bendikian and Liu do not explicitly teach the first image frame, the second image frame, and the first event frame have a same resolution.
Daniilidis teaches the first image frame, the second image frame, and the first event frame have a same resolution. (¶[0125], “we chose to instead use a representation of the events in image form. The input to the network is a 4 channel image with the same resolution as the camera”, discloses event frame has the same resolution as the images captured from the camera)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the claimed invention as taught by Bendikian and Liu with Daniilidis in order to have the event frame and the image frames captured to be the same resolution. One skilled in the art would have been motivated to modify Bendikian and Liu in this manner in order to estimation of optical flow, depth, and egomotion from event-based camera images. (Daniilidis, ¶[0003])
Regarding Claim 11, the combination of Bendikian, Liu and Daniilidis teach the apparatus according to claim 10, where Bendikian further teaches wherein the programming instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the optical flow estimation apparatus to: before the target optical flow is determined based on the first image frame, the second image frame, and the first event frame, (Col 4, Lines 1-6, “feature detection module is configured to identify a feature in an image. In one or more embodiments, feature detection module 155 may detect a feature of an object in an image captured by a traditional camera, or based on an event stream, or both. The feature detection module 155 may, for example, detect a feature, identify feature descriptors for the feature, and identify the feature based on the descriptors.”, this section of the prior art discloses determining an object in the event stream before calculating optical flow.) the method further comprises: obtain a second event frame, wherein the second event frame is used to describe a luminance change of the target scene within a time period from the first image frame to the target moment(Col 6, Lines 50-61, “FIG. 4 shows a depiction of event frames 405, 410, and 415 over time. It should be understood that the various event frames are not actual frames captured by a camera. Rather, the depicted event frames 405, 410, and 415 depict, for each of a subset of pixels of an image, whether a brightness has changed at a particular time. According to one or more embodiments, the various subset of pixels may be expressed as a collection of data sets indicating a timestamp corresponding to a change in brightness of a particular pixel at a particular location. In one or more embodiments, pixel locations may be defined by pixel coordinates within an image or on a sensor.”, in this section of the prior art multiple event frames are acquired and processed to determine a change in brightness); and wherein the determine a target optical flow based on the first image frame, the second image frame, and the first event frame comprises: determining the target optical flow based on the first image frame, the second image frame, the first event frame, and the second event frame. (Col 7, Lines 33-48, “FIG. 5 shows, in chart form, an example dynamic event flow used to determine a velocity of an object, according to one or more embodiments. More specifically, FIG. 5 depicts an example of an event flow over a period of time T0-T3 during which the subset of pixels is dynamically modified. As shown, event frame 505 includes nine pixels, with a change in brightness detected at three pixels. For purposes of this example, it could be determined that the initial set of pixels is insufficient. Thus, at 510, a set of 16 pixels is considered at T2. The same subset of pixels is also considered at 515, where there is an apparent movement of the indication of a change in brightness. Then, at 520, a different subset of pixels is considered. According to one or more embodiments, the apparent direction of the change in brightness may indicate that the nine pixels at the left edge and bottom edge are no longer needed.”, as shown in figure 5, multiple event frames are used from a time period of t0-t3 to calculate the velocity of an object)
Regarding Claim 18, the combination of Bendikian, Liu and Daniilidis teach the apparatus according to claim 10, where Bendikian further teaches wherein the programming instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the optical flow estimation apparatus to: obtain event flow data(Col 4, Lines 10-13, “the motion detection module 160 may receive an event stream from an event camera 110, and analyze a pattern of changes in brightness over time to determine motion of an object”, Col 4, Lines 10-13 disclose receiving and event stream to determine motion in the stream.),
wherein the event flow data comprises event data of each event in at least one event, the at least one event one-to-one corresponds to at least one luminance change that occurs in the target scene between the first image frame and the second image frame(Col 4, Lines 10-19, “the motion detection module 160 may receive an event stream from an event camera 110, and analyze a pattern of changes in brightness over time to determine motion of an object. The motion detection module 160 may analyze the changes in brightness over a subset of pixels, such as pixels associate with a particular object or feature of an object, to determine a velocity of the object. That is, the event flow may provide indications of a change in brightness at a particular pixel along with a timestamp identifying when the event (i.e., change in brightness) occurred. By analyzing a subset of pixels in an image, the motion of a particular feature may be calculated.”, Col 4, Lines 10-19 disclose determining motion from the event stream by detecting brightness changes from one time period to another and marking the time stamp of when the event occurred.);, and the event data of each event comprises a timestamp, pixel coordinates, and a polarity(Col 3, Lines 15-19, “Each event may include pixel coordinates for a pixel at which the event is detected, a timestamp at which the event is detected, and a polarity which indicates a direction in change of brightness.”, Col 3, Lines 15-19 disclose the event data comprises, pixel coordinates, timestamp and a polarity.); and obtaining the first event frame based on the event flow data (Col 6, Lines 53-55, “the depicted event frames 405, 410, and 415 depict, for each of a subset of pixels of an image, whether a brightness has changed at a particular time”, Col 6, Lines 53-55 disclose obtaining multiple event frames to determine brightness change from the event stream data.)
Regarding Claim 19, Bendikian teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage media comprising instructions which(Col 1, Lines 38-40, the method may be embodied in computer executable program code and stored in a non-transitory storage device), when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations(Col 3, Lines 37-45, Electronic Device 100 may include a central processing unit (CPU) 130. Processor 130 may be a system-on-chip such as those found in mobile devices and include one or more dedicated graphics processing units (GPUs). Further processor 130 may include multiple processors of the same or different type. Electronic Device 100 may also include a memory 140. Memory 140 may each include one or more different types of memory, which may be used for performing device functions in conjunction with CPU 130.) comprising: obtaining a first event frame(FIG. 4 shows a depiction of event frames 405, 410, and 415 over time), wherein the first event frame is used to describe a luminance change of the target scene within a time period from the first image frame to the second image frame(Col 4, Lines 10-19, “the motion detection module 160 may receive an event stream from an event camera 110, and analyze a pattern of changes in brightness over time to determine motion of an object. The motion detection module 160 may analyze the changes in brightness over a subset of pixels, such as pixels associate with a particular object or feature of an object, to determine a velocity of the object. That is, the event flow may provide indications of a change in brightness at a particular pixel along with a timestamp identifying when the event (i.e., change in brightness) occurred. By analyzing a subset of pixels in an image, the motion of a particular feature may be calculated.”, as disclosed in this section, an event stream is received and brightness changes are calculated and a timestamp of the change is recorded.); and determining a target optical flow based on the first image frame, the second image frame, and the first event frame(Col 4, Lines 55-58,” subset of pixels may correspond to pixels in the image within which the object or feature of the object was detected in 210. According to one or more embodiments, tracking movement within a small number of pixels of an image may provide preferable results if there are multiple objects moving in a scene. That is, a smaller subset of pixels will likely result in less false matches in an event flow.”, as disclosed in this section of the prior art, the optical flow is calculated using multiple frames ), wherein the target optical flow is an optical flow from the first image frame to a target moment, and the target moment is any moment between the first image frame and the second image frame (Col. 5, Lines 44-58 disclose the system can use the optical flow to place the ball at any location in the 60 frames/sec video data based on the determined optical flow.).
Bendikian does not explicitly teach wherein the first image frame and the second image frame are any two adjacent image frames in an image sequence
Liu teaches wherein the first image frame and the second image frame are any two adjacent image frames in an image sequence (Abstract, “obtaining the first frame rate of the first video data stream; motion data obtaining time of continuous two frame intermediate time the video data in the first video data stream according to the time to obtain all events between the continuous two frames of video data, a second video data stream according to the first video data stream and said motion data”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the claimed invention as taught by Bendikian with Lin in order to use adjacent image frames in the image sequence. One skilled in the art would have been motivated to modify Bendikian in this manner in order to acquire all motion data between two frames of a low-frame-rate common camera in a fast motion scene. (Liu, Page 9, Second to Last Paragraph)
However, Bendikian and Liu do not explicitly teach the first image frame, the second image frame, and the first event frame have a same resolution.
Daniilidis teaches the first image frame, the second image frame, and the first event frame have a same resolution. (¶[0125], “we chose to instead use a representation of the events in image form. The input to the network is a 4 channel image with the same resolution as the camera”, discloses event frame has the same resolution as the images captured from the camera)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the claimed invention as taught by Bendikian and Liu with Daniilidis in order to have the event frame and the image frames captured to be the same resolution. One skilled in the art would have been motivated to modify Bendikian and Liu in this manner in order to estimation of optical flow, depth, and egomotion from event-based camera images. (Daniilidis, ¶[0003])
Regarding Claim 20, the combination of Bendikian, Liu and Daniilidis teach the non-transitory computer-readable storage media according to claim 19, where Bendikian further teaches wherein obtaining the first event frame comprises: obtaining event flow data(Col 4, Lines 10-13, “the motion detection module 160 may receive an event stream from an event camera 110, and analyze a pattern of changes in brightness over time to determine motion of an object”, Col 4, Lines 10-13 disclose receiving and event stream to determine motion in the stream.),
wherein the event flow data comprises event data of each event in at least one event, the at least one event one-to-one corresponds to at least one luminance change that occurs in the target scene between the first image frame and the second image frame(Col 4, Lines 10-19, “the motion detection module 160 may receive an event stream from an event camera 110, and analyze a pattern of changes in brightness over time to determine motion of an object. The motion detection module 160 may analyze the changes in brightness over a subset of pixels, such as pixels associate with a particular object or feature of an object, to determine a velocity of the object. That is, the event flow may provide indications of a change in brightness at a particular pixel along with a timestamp identifying when the event (i.e., change in brightness) occurred. By analyzing a subset of pixels in an image, the motion of a particular feature may be calculated.”, Col 4, Lines 10-19 disclose determining motion from the event stream by detecting brightness changes from one time period to another and marking the time stamp of when the event occurred.);, and the event data of each event comprises a timestamp, pixel coordinates, and a polarity(Col 3, Lines 15-19, “Each event may include pixel coordinates for a pixel at which the event is detected, a timestamp at which the event is detected, and a polarity which indicates a direction in change of brightness.”, Col 3, Lines 15-19 disclose the event data comprises, pixel coordinates, timestamp and a polarity.); and obtaining the first event frame based on the event flow data (Col 6, Lines 53-55, “the depicted event frames 405, 410, and 415 depict, for each of a subset of pixels of an image, whether a brightness has changed at a particular time”, Col 6, Lines 53-55 disclose obtaining multiple event frames to determine brightness change from the event stream data.)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-8 and 12-17 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding Claim 3, the primary reason for the allowance of the claim is the inclusion of the limitations, “determining a first optical flow allocation mask based on the second event frame, wherein the first optical flow allocation mask indicates a weight of the target optical flow relative to the first optical flow; and determining the target optical flow based on the first optical flow and the first optical flow allocation mask.”, in the claim which is not found in the prior art references. It is noted that the examiner has not found any other prior art to anticipate or obviate the quoted claim limitations supra, when read in light/combination of the other claimed limitations within the cited claim. Also, it is noted that the quoted limitations, in combination with the other claim limitation of the cited claim, deem the claim patentable, not just the consideration of the quoted limitations by themselves.
Claims 4-7 would be allowed by virtue of their dependency on Claim 3.
Regarding Claim 8, the primary reason for the allowance of the claim is the inclusion of the limitations, “wherein the first image frame comprises HxW pixels, both H and W are integers greater than 1, the first event frame comprises a plurality of channels, and the plurality of channels comprise a first channel, a second channel, a third channel, and a fourth channel; wherein the first channel comprises HxW first values, whcrcin the HxW first values one-to- one correspond to HxW locations of the HxW pixels, and each first value indicates a quantity of times that luminance of a pixel at a corresponding location in the first image frame increases within the time period from the first image frame to the second image frame; wherein the second channel comprises HxW second values, whcrcin the HxW second values one-to-one correspond to the HxW locations of the HxW pixels, and each second value indicates a quantity of times that luminance of a pixel at a corresponding location in the first image frame decreases within the time period from the first image frame to the second image frame; wherein the third channel comprises HxW third values, whcrcin the HxW third values one- to-one correspond to the HxW locations of the HxW pixels, and each third value indicates a timestamp at which luminance of a pixel at a corresponding location in the first image frame increases for the last time within the time period from the first image frame to the second image frame; and wherein the fourth channel comprises HxW fourth values, wherein the HxW fourth values one-to-one correspond to the HxW locations of the HxW pixels, and each fourth value indicates a timestamp at which luminance of a pixel at a corresponding location in the first image frame decreases for the last time within the time period from the first image frame to the second image frame.” , in the claim which is not found in the prior art references. It is noted that the examiner has not found any other prior art to anticipate or obviate the quoted claim limitations supra, when read in light/combination of the other claimed limitations within the cited claim. Also, it is noted that the quoted limitations, in combination with the other claim limitation of the cited claim, deem the claim patentable, not just the consideration of the quoted limitations by themselves.
Regarding Claim 12, the primary reason for the allowance of the claim is the inclusion of the limitations, “determine a first optical flow allocation mask based on the second event frame, wherein the first optical flow allocation mask indicates a weight of the target optical flow relative to the first optical flow; and determine the target optical flow based on the first optical flow and the first optical flow allocation mask.”, in the claim which is not found in the prior art references. It is noted that the examiner has not found any other prior art to anticipate or obviate the quoted claim limitations supra, when read in light/combination of the other claimed limitations within the cited claim. Also, it is noted that the quoted limitations, in combination with the other claim limitation of the cited claim, deem the claim patentable, not just the consideration of the quoted limitations by themselves.
Regarding Claim 13-16 would be allowed by virtue of their dependency on Claim 12.
Regarding Claim 17, the primary reason for the allowance of the claim is the inclusion of the limitations “wherein the first image frame comprises HxW pixels, both H and W are integers greater than 1, the first event frame comprises a plurality of channels, and the plurality of channels comprise a first channel, a second channel, a third channel, and a fourth channel; wherein the first channel comprises HxW first values, wherein the HxW first values one-to- one correspond to HxW locations of the HxW pixels, and each first value indicates a quantity of times that luminance of a pixel at a corresponding location in the first image frame increases within the time period from the first image frame to the second image frame; wherein the second channel comprises HxW second values, wherein the HxW second values one-to-one correspond to the HxW locations of the HxW pixels, and each second value indicates a quantity of times that luminance of a pixel at a corresponding location in the first image frame decreases within the time period from the first image frame to the second image frame; wherein the third channel comprises HxW third values, wherein the HxW third values one- to-one correspond to the HxW locations of the HxW pixels, and each third value indicates a timestamp at which luminance of a pixel at a corresponding location in the first image frame increases for the last time within the time period from the first image frame to the second image frame; and wherein the fourth channel comprises HxW fourth values, wherein the HxW fourth values one-to-one correspond to the HxW locations of the HxW pixels, and each fourth value indicates a timestamp at which luminance of a pixel at a corresponding location in the first image frame decreases for the last time within the time period from the first image frame to the second image frame.” in the claim which is not found in the prior art references. It is noted that the examiner has not found any other prior art to anticipate or obviate the quoted claim limitations supra, when read in light/combination of the other claimed limitations within the cited claim. Also, it is noted that the quoted limitations, in combination with the other claim limitation of the cited claim, deem the claim patentable, not just the consideration of the quoted limitations by themselves.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HAN D HOANG whose telephone number is (571)272-4344. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8-5.
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/HAN HOANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2661
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